Monthly Archives: October 2016

We were extremely pleased to receive a Bronze Award in the Website: Marketing and Creative category at the Hertfordshire Digital Awards in September. The award came via our digital agency, Innermedia.

The Hertfordshire Digital Awards have been running since 2014 to reward innovation and progressive thinking by businesses, individuals, events, charities, and educational establishments. The awards are also supported by the newly formed Department for International Trade, led by The Rt Hon Liam Fox, MP.

As a forward-thinking company, we understand the importance of a strong digital presence and the impact that it can have for both us and our customers. We have worked to make our site more user-friendly, engaging, and easy to find, as well as adding functions such as the average service stats and green printing tips so that both our customers and new visitors can find useful information to make their lives easier and more eco-friendly.

It’s wonderful to be recognised for a new area of our business –Mode has previously reached the finals and won awards held by the Hertfordshire Chamber of Commerce, as well as being recognised for our charitable donations which are a vital part of our Corporate Social Responsibility and giving back to the local and global community.

Working from home is a dream for many Britons, and the reality for an increasing number who either work for themselves or for an office that has embraced the flexible workspace. Over 10% of employed adults now work from home at least part time, and we expect that number to increase as offices embrace new technology that makes it easier to communicate and work effectively from any location.

While the South West has the highest work from home rates, at 17.1%, but 13.6% of London workers work from home (and the figure is rising – 193,000 more people work away from the office compared to 10 years ago).

Cloud Printing to Let Your Team Print Anywhere

Cloud printing is a key technology for offices who have a lot of mobile employees or remote workers around the country – rather than mailing contracts in the post or sending email attachments that force people to go and print later, remote workers can easily print from the office printer while still at home. This can increase productivity, streamline your processes, and reduce the amount that employees need to spend on equipment at home if they can still use your office printers regardless of their location.

The best part is that you may not even need to upgrade or change your printer to start printing from the cloud – speak to us about how you can make the most of this opportunity.

VoIP Phones & Video Conferencing

One of the major obstacles to working from home is often not being able to have an office phone number or not being able to have productive conversations with colleagues. Fortunately, VoIP phone systems offer the ability to install phones with your office phone number in any location by just plugging them in. Combined with video conferencing software such as Skype for Business, this means that you can easily collaborate with colleagues who are in the next postcode or even in another country.

Making Work More Social

Businesses have always been cautious about Facebook, both in terms of reputational issues and losing productivity. Fortunately, you can easily make the most of Facebook’s best features without worrying about employees checking out friends’ statuses rather than working by using collaboration tools such as Yammer. The social engagement tool can help teams work together more easily, share ideas, and even improve employee engagement by sharing internal news in a less formal and structured format.

Encouraging employees to work from home more is a great way to save money, improve productivity, and even reduce the number of sick days taken. These tools are just a few ways that your business can make the most of these opportunities.